Pastor Joe wasn’t sure what to do about the Christmas Eve service. It was always a highlight for the musicians and congregation of his church in their little mountain village. But the electricity had gone out, which meant that not only was there no heat and no lights, but also no power for the organ. They didn’t have a piano, and no one played the accordion. So he consulted with Frank, their organist and choir director. Pastor Joe could play a few things on his guitar, but he only knew three chords. But with Frank’s help they came up with something at the last minute that they could use for the service. It was simple enough for the singers to learn quickly, and which the congregation could pick up easily. Joe wrote the words and Frank wrote a melody that would work with the three guitar chords. And with candles, people could see well enough to sing along. It actually went quite well. When the repairman came later to fix things, they played what they had written to show him how they had managed. He was so impressed by the song and by their ingenuity in coping with the disaster, he copied it down and shared it with others. Soon it was being sung in churches all over every Christmas.
Well, that’s not exactly how “Silent Night” came to be written and sung 202 years ago, but that’s how it would have been told if a similar thing had happened this year (not to mention how the COVID-19 pandemic would have altered the scenario!). Here’s the actual story. It was Christmas Eve, 1818 at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Oberndorf, a Bavarian village in Austria. The young priest, Father Joseph Mohr (1792-1848), had come to the church the year before. He had written the poem “Stille Nacht” two years earlier in Salzburg where he worked as an assistant priest in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. The organ at St. Nicholas church was not functioning and could not be repaired until Karl Mauracher, the organ builder who serviced the instrument, could get there weeks later.
That year a roving band of actors was performing in towns throughout the Austrian Alps. They arrived in time for their scheduled performance in Oberndorf, a play that would re-enact the story of Christ’s birth. Since the organ was out of commission, they presented their Christmas drama in a private home. That put Pastor Mohr in a meditative mood, so instead of walking straight home that night, he took a longer scenic route that led him up over a hill overlooking the village. Looking down on the peaceful snow-covered village, a Christmas-card-like scene, he recalled a poem he had written two years earlier, a poem about the shepherds and the angels who announced the Messiah’s long-awaited birth.
The next day was Christmas Eve and the loss of the organ posed a serious problem for the midnight mass. He needed a carol for that service, a special time of worship which was approaching in just a few hours. That afternoon, Father Mohr walked the three kilometers from his home to the neighboring town of Arnsdorf bei Laufen to visit his friend, Franz Gruber (1787-1863), a school teacher who also served as organist and choir master at St. Nicholas. Mohr brought his poem in hopes that Gruber could compose music for it on such short notice. Together they put together the carol we know and love. They sang it with Mohr’s guitar accompaniment that very evening.
The well-known organ builder, Karl Mauraher, arrived in Oberndorf weeks later to fix the organ. When he had completed the repairs, he stepped back to let Gruber test the instrument to see if he was satisfied. Gruber played – guess what? – the simple melody he had written for Mohr’s Christmas poem. Mauracher was deeply impressed and took copies of the music and words back to his own Alpine village, Kapfing. There, two well-known families of folk singers – the Rainers and the Strassers – heard it. They loved it and decided to include it in their Christmas season repertoire.
Their concerts quickly spread the carol across northern Europe. In 1834, they performed “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He liked it so much, he ordered that it be sung by his cathedral choir every Christmas Eve. Twenty years after it was written, the Rainers brought the song to the United States, singing it in German outside of New York’s Trinity Church. It was in 1863, nearly fifty years after it was first sung in German, that “Silent Night, Holy Night” was translated into English by John Freeman Young, a priest at Trinity Church. Eight years later, that English version was included in Charles Hutchins’ “Sunday School Hymnal.” Today, the words are sung around the world in more than 300 different languages! During a temporary truce on Christmas Eve in 1914, soldiers from opposite sides came out of their trenches on a World War I battlefield to sing the carol simultaneously in French German and English.
Here is a clip of movie of that Christmas truce.
Just like we all learned the Latin lyrics to “Adeste Fideles,” many of us were also introduced to the German text “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.” Here are the original lyrics (as best I could find them so far). And here is a link to the beautiful anthem “Peace, Peace” which includes the singing of “Silent Night” at the end.
Complete Original Lyrics
| 1 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Alles schläft; einsam wacht Nur das traute heilige Paar. Holder Knab im lockigten Haar, Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! Schlafe in himmlischer Ruh! | Silent night! Holy night! All’s asleep, one sole light, Just the faithful and holy pair, Lovely boy-child with curly hair, Sleep in heavenly peace! Sleep in heavenly peace! |
| 2 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht Lieb´ aus deinem göttlichen Mund, Da schlägt uns die rettende Stund. Jesus in deiner Geburt! Jesus in deiner Geburt! | Silent night! Holy night! God’s Son laughs, o how bright. Love from your holy lips shines clear, As the dawn of salvation draws near, Jesus, Lord, with your birth! Jesus, Lord, with your birth! |
| 3 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Die der Welt Heil gebracht, Aus des Himmels goldenen Höhn Uns der Gnaden Fülle läßt sehn: Jesum in Menschengestalt, Jesum in Menschengestalt | Silent night! Holy night! Brought the world peace tonight, From the heavens’ golden height Shows the grace of His holy might Jesus, as man on this earth! Jesus, as man on this earth! |
| 4 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Wo sich heut alle Macht Väterlicher Liebe ergoß Und als Bruder huldvoll umschloß Jesus die Völker der Welt, Jesus die Völker der Welt. | Silent night! holy night! Where today all the might Of His fatherly love us graced And then Jesus, as brother embraced. All the peoples on earth! All the peoples on earth! |
| 5 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Lange schon uns bedacht, Als der Herr vom Grimme befreit In der Väter urgrauer Zeit Aller Welt Schonung verhieß, Aller Welt Schonung verhieß. | Silent night! Holy night! Long we hoped that He might, As our Lord, free us of wrath, Since times of our fathers He hath Promised to spare all mankind! Promised to spare all mankind! |
| 6 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht! Hirten erst kundgemacht Durch der Engel Alleluja, Tönt es laut bei Ferne und Nah: Jesus der Retter ist da! Jesus der Retter ist da! | Silent night! Holy night! Shepherds first see the sight. Told by angelic Alleluja, Sounding everywhere, both near and far: “Christ the Savior is here!” “Christ the Savior is here!” |